This study investigates whether educators' cognitive and structural social capital is associated with perceptions of innovative climate in charter schools. We explore a new concept to assess educators' cognitive social capital, namely network intentionality, meaning the extent to which an educator is intentional in connecting and interacting with others. We hypothesize that network intentionality (cognitive social capital) is related to the extent to which educators perceive their school's climate to be innovative, but that this relationship is dependent on the educator's position in their school's social network (structural social capital). Findings suggest that the relationship between cognitive social capital and perceptions of innovative climate is partly mediated by structural social capital. In other words, those educators with high network intentionality, as evidenced by an orientation towards connecting others, also perceive the school's climate as being more innovative, partly because this strong network intentionality is associated with more out-going relational activity. This work provides unique insights into the factors that may be associated with teacher collaboration in successful charter schools serving traditionally underserved populations, and suggests ideas for schools wishing to support teacher collaboration and innovation.
In her research, she explores how educators' social networks change during educational reform. Drawing on complexity theory and literature on dynamic systems, she aims to understand how this network change supports and constrains school improvement in terms of teachers' instructional practice and student achievement. University of Illinois at Chicago. His research focuses on network formation and the effect of social structure on individual and collective behavior, decision making, and performance. He has worked with nearly 100 schools across the United States on issues of collaboration, knowledge exchange, and reform. He also studies collaboration in the context of local service provision, emergency management, and science policy.Abstract : Utilizing a cognitive perspective, this article examines the social processes through which teachers come to understand the Common Core State Standards. The authors begin by identifying three beliefs that have important implications for policy implementation: self-efficacy, resource adequacy, and value for clients. They measure those beliefs and the Common Core discussion networks that emerge among teachers at three points in time. Through the use of SIENA models, the authors explore how networks and beliefs coevolve within schools. Unlike prior research on social networks, which consistently finds strong homophilous tendencies, this research finds no evidence that teachers seek out coworkers who hold similar beliefs. Rather, teachers relied on preexisting formal and informal relationships to guide interactions. Those interactions were characterized by social influence, whereby a teacher ' s own beliefs adapted toward the beliefs held by the members of their social network. The findings offer a novel perspective on the complex dynamic that occurs within organizations as new policies are unveiled and employees interact with one another to understand the changes those policies entail.
Practitioner Points• Individual policy beliefs, which shape implementation decisions and behaviors, are socially constructed and legitimized. • When faced with large-scale policy change, bureaucrats engage one another in a collective sensemaking process characterized by peer dialogue and discussion. • While discussion networks emerge when new policy is introduced, they are influenced by preexisting informal and formal relationships within the organization. • Bureaucrats both seek and are sought for discussions based on their own efficacy in understanding the policy, their perception of resource adequacy for implementation, and the value they see in the reform. • Over time, individual policy beliefs assimilate toward the beliefs held by peers. This suggests that central members of an organization ' s informal network carry significant weight in shaping collective beliefs.
This exploratory study foregrounds the important, but often understudied social side of pre-service teacher development and its relation to teaching performance in one university-based teacher preparation program in the US. We examine the extent to which preservice elementary teachers' social relationships and perceptions of peer trust and efficacy are associated with performance on a high stakes mathematics teaching assessment. Findings suggest that social and emotional support through close social ties, peer trust, and selfefficacy are significantly and positively associated with pre-service teachers' teaching performance. Our work further contributes to the development and discourse about teacher education in universitybased teacher preparation programs.
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